DINO-mite Unit


The last few weeks of school I love to do some fun units that still hit those important GLE’s.  I did the wonderful Wizard of Oz unit from Mrs. Abby and I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the dinosaur unit from Mrs. Jump.  Here are some pictures from the unit.  I must say I was a little upset the first day because I went to take pictures with my camera and it didn’t turn on.  I didn’t remember to charge it...ugh!  I hate it when that happens. 

I started this unit off with a large paper mache “egg” that I made over the weekend.  This is what my kids came it to find on Monday morning.  They were all eager to find out what it was.  I love getting their minds buzzing first thing in the morning. I told them my husband found it when he was mowing the yard.  We filled out an inference sheet and I had some clues to help them with their sheets.  Before we left for specials my kids all had ideas as to what was in the egg.  Some thought it was a giant bird, a snake and a few thought it was a dinosaur egg.  When they came back from specials this is what they saw! 
 
We did a flipchart on all different dinosaurs and also learned about herbivores and carnivores.  The kids all loved this.  The following day we learned all about the T-Rex and made a fun art activity where the kiddos had to cut out bones and put them together to form a  skeleton.  They did a non-fiction writing to go along with it and they turned out so cute.  I had a hard time with the picture situation this week, so I apologize that they are limited.  
I think my favorite day of the unit was the paleontologist day.  We learned all about what they do and we even got to practice an excavation on chocolate chip cookies.  Excavation was our fancy word of the day.  They had to use toothpicks to get the chips out.  The kids loved this almost as much as the actual dig.


  Well, if you know me you know I love to go all out on my units and lessons.  I had to break out the hats to help set the mood for the dig.  I even joined in on the fun with a hat too. I am also sporting an ever so pretty necklace one of my kids made for me. LOVE!
           Cooperative learning and hands on activities are a must in all classrooms.  This is the best way to have full engagement and teach kids to work with one another to solve problems or complete a task.  The dig was a perfect way to address both.  I purchased five three dimensional dinosaurs and each dinosaurs had about 8-10 pieces.  The kids had to dig to find the pieces and then use their tools (paintbrushes, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, etc.) to clean them off.  As a team they had to clean off the pieces and put them together to form a dinosaur. 

 I put clay/play-doh around some of the pieces to make it harder clean off.
The dinosaur kit I bought was about $10.00 for five and they had information cards on each dinosaur.  When they had the dinosaurs complete they had to find the card that matched their dinosaur and fill out a form about the dinosaur they found.  This was a success and they learned so much!

I also love my sassy snack ideas, so I had to have one for this unit.  After our dig we enjoyed a paleontologist power snack.  The kids thought the names for the food were so funny.  I liked it because it was healthy. 
Snake eyes =green grapes
Dried ants=raisins
Crock teeth=green apples with fruit dip
Beetle wings=potato chips

Hopefully many of you are in the final stretch of the year.  I will still be working on lots of units and plan to go up and do some major organizing next week.  I will be taking pictures of my closet and will upload some of the cute labels I made for my storage containers.  HAPPY SUMMER!
Photobucket

5 comments

  1. I love the chocolate chip cookie excavation!!
    ❤Teri
    A Cupcake for the Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  2. Where did you purchase the dinosaurs that they had to put together?

    kimberlycollatos@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the paleontologist power snack!!...and the chocolate chip excavation! Such fun ideas!

    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just came across your blog and love the layout! The evacuation of chocolate chips is such a fun and creative idea. There are so many different lessons you can incorporate that into it. Thanks for sharing!

    Katie
    Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love all of these ideas! Could you tell me where you got the puzzles? I know you wrote this awhile ago, but I hope you remember!

    ReplyDelete